Dear NRDC Activist, before you dig into our first newsletter of 2026, we at NRDC would like to take a moment to reflect on the challenges our nation is facing right now.

People across the United States have watched with shame, horror, and growing anger as their own federal government sends swarms of heavily armed, masked agents into our communities.

It is time for us to speak together, in one voice: the unlawful and violent use of federal force to intimidate, silence, and punish communities for exercising their rights must end.

While we have all witnessed the chaos unfolding in our communities across the country, we at NRDC are also deeply concerned by how it impacts every aspect of civil society, including our work to protect the environment.

NRDC will not submit to fear and intimidation. We will instead sue the federal government when it unlawfully endangers people’s health or the environment, as we have sued every administration for the past fifty years. We will speak out — candidly, precisely, and forcefully — as we have always done. And our 3 million members and activists will continue to remind our elected representatives that they work for the people of the United States, not for a bullying Executive Branch.

Read more on NRDC.org.

In another attempt to gut clean water protections for industry profit, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a new proposal that would make it harder for states and Tribes to stop federally-permitted projects — like oil and gas pipelines — that pollute drinking water sources, rivers, and wetlands.

NRDC supporters like you submitted over 23,000 public comments last month opposing another proposed rollback to the Clean Water Act from the administration — thank you. This latest EPA attack would fast-track polluting projects, and states and Tribes will pay the price. We need you to make your voice heard once again.

The EPA is accepting public comments on its disastrous anti-clean water proposal until Feb. 17: Submit a message of opposition now.

Last month, the Trump administration signaled its intent to pull the United States out of more than 60 international forums and treaties, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) — the cornerstone of global climate cooperation — at the very moment climate-fueled disasters are battering communities across the country and around the world.

This latest reckless move makes the U.S. the first nation to abandon the UNFCCC. And with the administration having also just finalized its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement, the White House is doubling down on choosing fossil fuel profits over the lives of tens of millions of people, public health, and a livable planet for future generations. In doing so, it also threatens to damage the U.S.’s economy and competitive, international investments in affordable clean energy and jobs.

But the Trump administration’s abandonment of climate leadership doesn’t spell the end of global climate action for the U.S.

Read our latest expert blog to see how the U.S. and the rest of the world can, and are, still advancing climate solutions — and how a future administration can rejoin the fight.

After the Trump administration unlawfully froze a $5 billion federal initiative to build reliable, high-speed electric vehicle (EV) charging along U.S. highways, a U.S. District Court Judge has ordered the administration to release the funds. NRDC and our partners intervened in the case, which was originally brought by 17 states. Now all states can move forward with long-delayed charging projects that improve people’s lives by making the charging network safer and more reliable, enabling longer-distance EV travel, expanding access to lower-cost EV driving, and reducing toxic air pollution. Read more >

• Groups Push to Block Arctic Refuge Drilling Plan and More NRDC Court Battles: NRDC and other environmental groups continued their fight in court against the Trump administration's attempt to auction off the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for oil and gas drilling after the current administration again moved to open the Refuge’s Coastal Plain to drilling last fall. Read more about this and other NRDC lawsuits against the Trump administration >
• A Step Forward for Protecting the Blake Plateau From Industrial Threats: A new resolution calls for evaluating safeguards for one of the largest deep-sea coral habitats on earth, located in the Southeastern U.S. Read more >
• New NRDC Report Details Solutions to Protect Homes from Extreme Weather: As extreme weather becomes more frequent, damaging, and costly, local and state governments can finance home buyout programs to reduce risks ahd help homeowners relocate to safer locations in the aftermath of severe storms, flooding, and wildfire. Read more >

We are all paying the price for climate change: U.S. climate disasters in 2024 amounted to nearly $182.7 billion in damages. One solution? Make the biggest corporate polluters who are responsible for the biggest greenhouse gas emissions cover the costs. Learn more about how states are passing "polluters pay" laws on NRDC's podcast What the Earth >

• Tell Procter & Gamble: Stop Flushing Our Forests for Profit: P&G is exploiting Canada’s boreal forest to make disposable products like Charmin toilet paper. Tell P&G’s new CEO to commit to truly sustainable tissue products >
• Protect Sacred Lands Around Chaco Culture National Historical Park: The Trump administration proposed removing protections for public lands around New Mexico’s iconic Chaco Canyon. Take action to keep Chaco protected >
• Tell the FDA to Protect Us From Microplastics: Tiny plastic particles hurt our environment and our health. Tell the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to hold plastic producers accountable and protect us from microparticles. Send a letter >

Text NRDC to 61636 to sign up for urgent text alerts.

By providing your mobile number you'll sign up to receive recurring urgent texts from NRDC to your cell phone from 61636. Recurring msgs; msg & data rates may apply; text STOP to quit anytime, HELP for more info. Read our privacy policy.

Donations will be used to fight climate change and for other campaigns that allow NRDC to protect the environment in the most effective way possible.